Scientists are finding brighter bursts of energy from outer space and are getting closer to knowing where they come from

Scientists have detected two bright radio bursts from a magnetar in our galaxy as they approach the discovery of the source of the explosions.

Now scientists say they have found new bursts coming from the same magnetar. This should further help indicate whether it is indeed a source of FRB and whether the same process could fuel those explosions that we have discovered to be from other parts of the universe.

Fast radio bursts are very short and very powerful bursts of radio energy that are sent across the universe. Although they are as short as a fraction of a millisecond, they can emit as much energy as the Sun sends in days – they are mostly unpredictable, but some have been found on a repetitive schedule.

Astronomers have been looking for an explanation for the explosions since 2007, when the first was discovered. Possible origins have included everything from dying stars and black holes to alien technology.

That hunt was mostly elusive, and it’s still unclear what exactly is causing the explosions. But scientists got very close this year when they discovered what appeared to be one of the explosions from within our galaxy and tracked the source to a magnetar, or neutron star with an incredibly powerful magnetic field.

A few days after that discovery, the researchers detected much weaker bursts coming from the same source, officially known as SGR1935 + 2154. It appears to have similarities to other fast radio bursts that have been detected previously and outside our solar system.

The researchers hope that the discovery of the following explosions, as well as deeper work to understand how active the source is, can help show whether it is definitely similar to the source of other FRBs that have come to us from outside our galaxy.

The researchers conclude that the magnetar in our galaxy “convincingly demonstrates the existence of a link between (at least some) FRBs and magnetars.” There are still some key questions, however, and the scientists say further monitoring of the object known as SGR1935 + 2154 could help answer them.

They write that the explosions apparently coming from the magnetar “are not a flawless analog” of the FRBs that come to us from outside the galaxy. But that doesn’t mean those extragalactic FRBs can’t be explained by the magnetars – the differences could be a consequence of those outside our galaxy being younger, and therefore brighter and more active.

The research is described in a new article published in Nature Astronomy and entitled “Detection of two luminous radio flashes by the magnetar SGR 1935 + 2154”.